Books by Eric Douglas

Thriller fiction and Non-fiction

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    • Held Hostage: Search for the Juncal
    • Water Crisis: Day Zero
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    • Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
    • Heart of the Maya: Murder for the Gods
    • Wreck of the Huron: Cuban Secrets
    • Guardians’ Keep: Mystery below the Adriatic
    • Flooding Hollywood: Fanatics at the Dam
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    • Lyin’ Fish
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      • WV Voices of War / Common Valor
      • Capturing Memories: How to Record Oral Histories
    • Dive-abled: The Leo Morales Story
    • Keep on, Keepin’ On: A Breast Cancer Story
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Fiction becomes reality on Grand Cayman

October 5, 2015 By Eric Douglas

Ten years ago, my first novel (Cayman Cowboys) revolved around the conflict that happens when development squares off against the environment. In that case, a developer was destroying coral reefs in search of treasure while building a cruise ship dock. There were protests, corrupt politicians and good guys trying to save the reef. At the time, I honestly thought it was a little farfetched because the reef in Grand Cayman is a main draw for visitors. The idea that anyone would allow a developer to come in and haplessly destroy coral reefs that have earned the island the distinction of being one of the top diving destinations in the world was a bit out there. I thought.

Sea turtle on a reef on Grand CaymanFlash forward 10 years and the government of the Cayman Islands is planning to build a new pier that will allow cruise ships to dock in the harbor and not have to rely on shuttle boats, called tenders, to get the tourists back and forth the dock. The problem is, to build the dock, the government is going to have to destroy acres of viable coral reef and a historic wreck dive site that is in the middle of the approach to the harbor. They have discussed the idea of moving the reefs, but that’s just about the most absurd thing anyone without a financial stake in getting the dock built has ever heard. Those who have a financial stake in the dock think it makes perfect sense.

Spotted moray on Grand CaymanThe short version is they would have to cut loose and lift thousands of tons of rock and then relocate it to a new area. It’s all underwater, of course, and you just can’t blast it loose and then scoop it up. It would have to be cut loose from below the sand and carefully lifted and moved. On top of that, wherever you would move it to would have to have similar conditions of currents, depth and sunlight to allow the coral reef to continue living.

In short, it’s impossible. Read this opinion piece on the subject.

As an additional layer of absurd, beyond the reef that will be destroyed by the construction of the dock, many additional acres will be destroyed by the silt from the construction and dredging. That will devastate many existing hotels just outside the harbor by destroying their house reefs and the dive sites they frequent.

Arrow crab on Grand CaymanNone of this makes any sense. Unless you consider that the cruise ship lines want the dock. And they spend a lot of money on the island. It all comes back to short-sighted decisions in the interest of money.

The above video is just a simple collage of eight different dive sites in the area near the harbor. All of it will be destroyed or seriously degraded by the actual construction and the dredging. The conditions weren’t perfect the week I shot the video. As a matter of fact it rained every day so the visibility was a little degraded. A couple days, it was raining while I was in the water. Still, it shows the amazing diversity of undersea life on Grand Cayman. And it shows what we all stand to lose all in search of money. In the long run, tourism will suffer.

IMG_6005~2I think I’ll try to get back to Cayman one more time before they move forward with this disaster. Because once construction begins, the island will be permanently off my destination list..

Filed Under: Adventure, Books, Diving, Documentary, Photography, Travel

Sunday Gazette-Mail: Review of Return to Cayman

August 17, 2015 By Eric Douglas

Option 1WV Book Team Review: Diver challenges a war on coral in the Caymans

By Cat Pleska
WV Book Team

“Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage” by Eric Douglas. 238 pages. Visibility Press (2015).

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “Return to Cayman” is the sixth in a series of novels Eric Douglas calls the Mike Scott Adventures.

In each book, Mike Scott is a photojournalist and diver who gets himself involved in some serious crime-fighting. In the latest novel, the plot involves a crime that has global repercussions riding on a “red herring” — that is, it seems what’s at stake are the coral reefs around the Grand Cayman Islands and being able to save them, but in fact the possible damage is much more far-reaching than anyone dreamed.

The story begins with the arrival of Mike Scott to visit old friends Kelly and Tanya, residents of Grand Cayman, an island with a population of 56,000. Kelly and Tanya own a dive resort, Sunset House, but Tanya is also working with the Department of the Environment to protect and restore the coral reefs surrounding the island, which are crucial to the diving industry.

A coral reef represents hundreds of years of growth of tiny, living sea creatures that form hard (mostly) outcroppings on the bottoms of oceans, especially around islands or just off shores of continents. Coral beds are the nurseries for small fish, who in turn are in the feeding chain for larger fish, the kind humans use for food. Besides natural disasters, such as hurricanes, that can devastate coral colonies, man-made destruction — by the massive anchors of cruise ships, agricultural runoff and dock development — is increasing.

An eccentric billionaire, Jay Taylor, arrives on the island with the stated intent to save the coral. He’s planted sensors in the water that can detect problems, and he also pledges a million dollars to the Caymanian government for coral recovery and protection. But Tanya, a marine biologist well-versed in protecting the coral environment, has her suspicions. Free help is nice, but it could mean strings attached.

Mike, ostensibly along for the ride, helps his friends assess the state of the coral. He and Kelly dive to begin the survey and are almost killed when an off-course cruise ship drops anchor nearly on top of them.

Each link in the anchor chain weighs hundreds of pounds. Besides nearly ending their lives, massive amounts of coral are destroyed — and also Bubba, a huge, 1,000-pound grouper, who is considered an “old man of the sea.” How can such a massive ship be off by 100 feet coming in to dock? Could the drone flying overhead have anything to do with it?

And after Tanya is nearly killed in a bizarre car accident — also when a drone is present — the three, led by Mike Scott, begin a race not only to save the coral, but also the international banking systems that are present on the island — more than 600 banks where billions of dollars are at stake. Someone masterminds a complete shutdown of all electronic interaction with the world, essentially erecting a “cone of silence” around the island.

The chase is on to stop whomever is creating havoc. The island divers, or “cowboys” as they’re called, saddle up (that is, they don scuba gear) and vow to help the threesome save the world. Plenty of action and deception ensue, and Douglas is good at developing tension and getting a reader to turn a page, the hallmark of thrillers. A few passages seem repetitive, but my hat’s off to Douglas for creating a complex mystery involving computer sabotage. It reminded me a little of “Mission Impossible” plots.

Douglas’ own decades of scuba diving provide a realistic environment. Perhaps my favorite passage was the swim through the coral “tunnel” with its “windows” (gaps in the coral wall) that allow sunshine to come through, which is crucial for coral growth.

“Return to Cayman” is a good summer read — fast and furious — with the occasional slowdown to admire the scenery. In true thriller fashion, the novel provides not only an exciting ride, but a greater awareness of what’s happening in our oceans.

Long live the coral and Bubbas of the sea! And maybe then we’ll thrive too.

Read the follow up Q and A here:

– See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20150816/GZ05/150819788/1178#sthash.EssugIIn.dpuf.

Filed Under: Adventure, Books, Diving, New Releases, Travel

Help pick the cover for “Lyin’ Fish”

July 23, 2015 By Eric Douglas

Next month, I’m releasing a new novella, featuring the gang from ScubaRadio, called “Lyin’ Fish.” But I want your feedback on the book cover. Select your favorite, or tell me which parts of which ones you like in the comments below.

“The crew from the nationally-syndicated talk radio show ScubaRadio comes to sleepy Withrow Key for a lionfish rodeo, but immediately Jackson Pauley feels something isn’t right. “Greg the Divemaster” Holt can barely dive. When Jackson spears a lionfish, Greg grabs it and gets stung. The radio show is a disaster. When Duffy, the local bar owner, goes missing Jackson, Littlebear and Zach jump into action to unravel the mystery and save their friend.”

Lyin’ Fish is the ninth story from Withrow Key. Set on a bypassed key in the Florida Keys, life moves a little slower and a little weirder. Each Withrow Key thriller features scuba diving, adventure, boats, the ocean and mystery along with beautiful locations and scenery.

If you’ve missed the earlier Withrow Key stories, you can read them all in Tales from Withrow Key.

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Filed Under: Adventure, Books, Diving, New Releases, Travel

Return to Cayman book trailer

July 10, 2015 By Eric Douglas

Check out the exciting new book trailer for Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage. Get your copy today on Kindle or in softcover.

All the underwater footage was taken on Grand Cayman. Many thanks to Sunset House and Sunset Divers for their hospitality..

Filed Under: Adventure, Books, Diving, New Releases, Travel

Dive in! The Cayman Islands are all about the ocean

June 22, 2015 By Eric Douglas

This is an excerpt from a newspaper travel story in the Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette-Mail, published 6/21/15. The link is at the bottom to read the complete story.

By Eric Douglas
For the Sunday Gazette-Mail
The author’s wife, Beverly, poses with the 9-foot-tall bronze statue of the mermaid Amphitrite, located at one of the many dive sites around the Cayman Islands.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Rising from the sea floor thousands of feet below, Grand Cayman, along with the sister islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, makes an improbable Caribbean paradise.

The islands are small, without much soil or freshwater, and at the most only rise about 60 feet above the sea level. What they do have is incredible warm blue water with a gentle breeze and year-round warm air temperatures.

And scuba diving. The Cayman Islands have lots of scuba diving.

I’ve been there four times over the last 10 years. The first three times were while conducting safety training for local dive instructors and to do research for my latest novel, “Return to Cayman,” which is based on the island.

On my last trip, my “reason” for visiting was to hold a release party and book signing, with all proceeds from book sales benefiting a volunteer effort to restore a coral reef damaged when a cruise ship dropped anchor on a reef.

My real reason for traveling to Grand Cayman, of course, was the legendary diving.

For the avid diver, one of the best places to stay on the island is Sunset House. Sunset House and My Bar are featured prominently in “Return to Cayman” as well. The resort bills itself as “a hotel for divers, by divers” and it does not disappoint. The entire resort is oriented toward making it convenient to scuba dive, either off one of their boats or in unlimited shore diving for guests.

It’s easy to get there from Charleston. I generally leave out of Yeager Airport on the 7 a.m. flight to Atlanta and get to Grand Cayman in time for lunch at My Bar. It’s a small island, so the commute from the airport literally just takes a few minutes after you clear customs.

Situated about 200 miles south of Cuba, the Cayman Islands are located in the Western Caribbean just south of the Tropic of Cancer. Air and water temperatures hover around 80 degrees with very little variation. The rainy season runs from May through October, roughly corresponding with hurricane season.

The last major storm to hit the island was Ivan in 2004. It tore the island up, tearing roofs off of houses, but since then the island has only suffered on glancing blow from a storm.

– See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150621/GZ05/150629971#sthash.thbuPppB.dpuf.

Filed Under: Adventure, Books, Diving, Photography, Travel

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Real Thugs: A Cult of Murder — Small groups of travelers have disappeared all over the mid-Atlantic without a trace. When bodies turn up with what appear to be ritual markings, FBI Agent AJ West is on the hunt for what might be a serial killer. Or something even more sinister. It’s a race against […]

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